American doctor with Ebola arrives in U.S. for treatment

Nancy Writebol of Charlotte is a medical missionary with Service in Mission. She was working at a medical center in Liberia when she was diagnosed with Ebola. Her husband, David, has been allowed to visit her while wearing a suit to protect against hazardous materials.(Photo: Service in Mission)

One of two American doctors infected with Ebola arrived in the United States on Saturday, the first time anyone infected with the deadly virus has been brought into the country.

Dr. Kent Brantly was being treated in a special isolation unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon after landing late in the morning at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Ga.

A second American infected with the virus, Nancy Writebol, is likely to arrive in the USA within a few days. Brantly and Writebol were serving in Liberia as medical missionaries when they became infected with the virus.

Doctors are confident the two can be treated without putting the public in danger.

"We have an inordinate amount of safety involved ... no one is in any way at risk," said Emory University's Bruce Ribner, who will oversee the isolation unit. "You need to appreciate Ebola is not spread by some magic mechanism."

The first American Ebola patient exited the ambulance and walked into the backdoor of Emory Hospital in Atlanta Saturday afternoon.

The hospital is located just down the hill from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is one of only four sites in the country capable of handling high-risk patients.

"This special isolation unit was previously developed to treat patients who are exposed to certain serious infectious diseases," Emory University said in a statement Saturday afternoon. "It is physically separate from other patient areas and has unique equipment and infrastructure that provide an extraordinarily high level of clinical isolation."

On Saturday, Amber Brantly, Brantly's wife, expressed her happiness in having her husband back in the USA.

"It was a relief to welcome Kent home today," Amber Brantly said in a statement. "I spoke with him, and he is glad to be back in the U.S. I am thankful to God for his safe transport and for giving him the strength to walk into the hospital."

Earlier this week, an Emory emergency medical team evaluated the patients in Liberia, deeming both stable enough for the trip to Atlanta, Ribner said. Officials said the Americans would travel on a Gulfstream jet fitted with a collapsible, clear tent built to transfer CDC employees exposed to contagious diseases.

Brantly, 33, of Fort Worth, had been working in Liberia for Samaritan's Purse overseeing an Ebola treatment center. Writebol, of Charlotte, was working at the center on behalf of the faith group Service in Mission. Samaritan's Purse is paying for their evacuation and medical care.

The hospital's isolation unit has its own laboratory equipment so samples don't have to be sent to the main hospital lab. The university says it uses standard, rigorous infection control procedures to protect patients, workers and the public.

"Emory University Hospital physicians, nurses and staff are highly trained in the specific and unique protocols and procedures necessary to treat and care for this type of patient," the university said in a statement.

There's no specific treatment for Ebola so doctors try to ease symptoms, including fever, headache, vomiting and diarrhea. Some cases suffer severe bleeding.

"If there's any modern therapy that can be done," such as better monitoring of fluids, electrolytes and vital signs, workers will be able to do it better in this safe environment, said Philip Brachman, an Emory University public health specialist who for many years headed the CDC's disease detectives program.

"That's all we can do for such a patient. We can make them feel comfortable" and let the body try to beat back the virus, he said.

Ebola is considered one of the world's deadliest diseases. The current outbreak in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone has sickened more than 1,300 people and killed more than 700 this year.

The virus is spread through direct contact with blood, urine, saliva and other bodily fluids from an infected person. It is not spread through the air so it is not as infectious as a germ like the flu.

Two Americans diagnosed with the Ebola virus are being airlifted from West Africa to the USA. Emory Hospital in Atlanta has a specially built isolation unit set up in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to treat patients who are exposed to certain serious infectious diseases. The CDC is not aware of a case of Ebola ever being treated here, but five people in the past decade have entered the country with either Lassa Fever or Marburg Fever, hemorrhagic fevers similar to Ebola.